Handsfree Dispenser

            Visit any school classroom or day care facility and you are sure to come across a child sneezing or coughing,especially since we are into flu and cold season. A sneeze is like a projectile.  It can travel with force for several feet   If you are in its path, you can breath in  the  germs in that sneeze. or touch objects that the sneeze reached.

       Kids do not think about these matters and so they sneeze right into the air. They need guidance and training to stop polluting the air.  Fortunately there is a product called Germy Wormy that can help kids learn how to sneeze and cough the right way.

        It is a DISPOSBLE sleeve that fits over the child’s elbow. Germy Wormy eats your germs they are told. This motivates the child to remember to sneeze or cough into the elbow onto the sleeve.  This establishes a healthy habit that  can continue into adulthood.  We hear about how to sneeze and cough because of  the HINI flu. This is one of the ways to help kids avoid the flu and colds.

      The media is covering the Swine flu, HINI, issuing reports and alerts. That’s fine.  We need to be reminded about the  1.7 million cases of “nosocomial” or hospital-caught infections of MRSA, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus.  The Center for Disease Control estimates that there are 100,000 deaths annually due to MRSA infections. That is double the number of people killed in the Vietnam War.

       The CDC also figures that 2.3 million Americans carry the bacteria in their noses without symptoms. Once contracted, there is little that doctors can do with antibiotics or emergency oxygen.  It starts out with a stuffy nose, cough, and mild fever. The frightening factor is that even healthy, young people can succumb to it in 72 hours and die.  And now community acquired MRSA is showing up in gyms, prisons and other places.

        Hands that are contaminated, sneezes, and coughs spread the disease that is why we are getting advice through the media on how to prevent  MRSA.  Wash your hands before eating, and after touching public objects like money, shopping carts, and doors. Keep hand sanitizer handy.Sneeze and cough into your elbow instead of your hand.  When visiting your gym, be aware of germs and wash your hands and shower. Hospital caregivers and visitors must be reminded to wash their hands or use sanitizer.  A great invention are hands free door openers, especially for public restrooms. After you have washed your hands, you don’t want to handle a door.

      By now, we probably all have heard about the supebug MRSA, methicillin resistant staphlococcus aureus. It is prevalent in hospitals but has also invaded public gyms and other places where a break in the skin can be a source of infection.                                                                       

     Another less well known superbug is Clostriium difficile, popularly called C-Diff.  It is the mother of all diarrheas, a gut-wrenching, non-stop variety, accompanied by pain and fever.  Ironically C-Diff also lurks in a hospital setting  where the immune system compromised and elderly people are the most vulnerable.  Jails and prisoners have also reported cases.  The Center for Disease Control estimates that this microbe has attacked at least 225,000 hospital visitors in recent moths.

    It is thought that the overuse of antibiotics created C-Diff by eliminating the helpful bacteria in the intestine. Even harsher antibiotics are used to combat the illness.  At times those infected can have recurrences.

     Hospital patients, caregivers, visitors, and all maintenance personnel must wash their hands upon entering a patient’s room and also when leaving in case of cross-contamination.  The CDC says that handwashing can prevent illness. Hand sanitizer is also useful. Most importantly always wash or sanitize your hands before eating.

     The government recently has had warnings on TV that the Swine Flu statistics will be increasing in our country.This is influenced by global travel.  The strategy to use here to avoid becoming a Swine Flu statistic is to use plain, ordinary common sense.  As with any infection, in this case influenza, our hands are the most frequent transmitter of germs.  Next is sneezing and coughing into the air.

      Let’s take cross-contamination via germ-ridden hands.  We can pick up many illness-causing germs by using phones, keyboards, door handles, shopping carts, money, shaking hands, pubic restroom devices and the list goes on.  Illness can be avoided by simple and proper handwashing says the Center for Disease Control.   When using a public restroom, the final germ free devices are hands free towel dispensers and hands free door openers.  Feel confident with these.

      Keyboards, phones, door knobs, shopping carts, and other objects can be disinfected with germicidal wipes. Anther way to rid the hands of contamination is to carry hand sanitizer.  Use it after handling objects and before eating.

     Sneeze and cough into your elbow. This action shields the germs from becoming airborne. The elbow is not used to handle things.  These simple steps can keep you healthy.

      “Home Sweet Home”, “There’s No Place Like Home”, and “Home Is Where The heart Is”. Unfortunately we could also say, “Home Germy Home”, “There’s No Contamination Like Home”, and “Home Is Where The Germs Are”. Yes we all feel safe in our homes, and rightly so because we cannot see the microscopic world that lives at home with us, namely harmless and harmful microbes. We do not want to sterilize our surroundings, and in fact it would be impossible and undesirable to do so. We can however prevent illness by simply washing our hands and using disinfectant wipes  on objects that harbor disease causing germs.  The usual suspects  are door knobs, land phones, cell phones, keyboards, kitchen counters, bathroom counters, faucets, sinks, TV remotes, toys, and keys. They can easily be wiped clean by using disinfectant wipes. When family members are sick, it is necessary to take these measures more frequently so as to prevent spreading the illness to other family members. Oh, and remember your car it’s your home away from home. You are not a Germaphobe because you do these things, you are just aware, and want to prevent cross contamination.

       This morning I was shopping in a drugstore.  As I walked down one aisle, a clerk was stocking the shelves.  He sneezed while trying to say hello. I said, “Sorry, you must have a cold”.  He replyed, “Yes I do”. While shopping further, I heard 5 more sneezes.  Now you know he was sneezing into the air, literally spraying germs everywhere. Maybe he was even sneezing into his hands, the hands that were handling items to be put on shelves.  A person who comes along and picks up one of these items, is exposed to the cold or flu germs.

       A person who is sick should not come to work, but you know that is not reality. Kids give their colds and flus to each other and to the teacher, office workers contaminate their desks and computers, food handlers can be the cause of illness, bank tellers can spread more than wealth. and clerks like the one I encountered today just don’t have a clue when it comes to preventing cross-contamination.

     Washing one’s hands and drying them with a sanitary paper towel,  hand sanitizers, using disinfectant wipes, and sneezing into the elbow, taught as hygiene for kids and adults are several ways to keep those germs from infecting others.

     Wherever food is handled, be it in the home, school cafeteria, restaurant, retirement home, military canteen, packing house or any other institution, it must not come in contact with disease causing germs. When a food recall is issued, it is because of cross-contamination in the handling of that food item.  The most common sources are E.coli and Salmonella.  This means that the food handler did not wash his or her hands or did not use a germ free towel to dry the hands. Touching a towel dispenser that every one else has handled is not hygienic and defeats the purpose of hand washing. If one has to exit a door, that towel can be used to open the door. Touch free towel dispensers should be available to all food handlers. The CDC says that simple hand washing can prevent disease and this cannot be stressed enough with food handling.

     Kids can be the greatest carriers of germs. Unfortunately some of those microbes cause illnesses like flus and colds. They usually do not wash their hands unless they are reminded. They handle toys, doors, phones, toilets, pets, books, and more. They sneeze and cough in those hands, in the air, and on objects. They need to be educated about germs and how to avoid them. Simple rules of hygiene for kids is what is needed. Handwashing, hand sanitizing, and sneezing and coughing into an elbow need to be emphasized.  Less sick days for kids, families, teachers, workers, and friends would be a great result.

     We all have to flush toilets unless we use a portable toilet like they have at outdoor functions or an outhouse. We don’t realize how fortunate we are compared to some parts of the world where they don’t have indoor, modern plumbing. I’ll never forget this remark made by a German who lived in Berlin during World War II.  Germany was invaded at the end of the war by troops that came from non-technological areas. They washed their potatoes in the toilets because they had never seen a toilet. Shocking?  Yes, but the following information may shock you even more.

I watched a demonstration by a scientist who wanted to show how flushing a toilet with the lid open causes a spray that can possibly reach twenty feet away.  He simply put a red dye in the toilet and flushed.  The droplets could be seen everywhere, on the floor to be picked up by feet, on the counters where toothbrushes are placed, on the toilet tissue holder, and on the person. This ought to motivate everyone to please close the lid.  When you use a public automatic toilet flusher, turn your back and move away.

     When workers have to stay home because of illness, it costs the employer money. When workers who are ill come to work anyway, they spread the germs that caused them to be sick. They touch doorknobs or handles, pens and pencils, phones, keyboards, and armrests.  If they sneeze or cough into their hands and droplets reach desktops, the workplace area is contaminated. Keyboards especially have been shown to harbor more bacteria than a toilet seat.    This ought to be enough reason to motivate management to do the following:

    Mount a hand sanitizer dispenser in a convenient location for workers.

    Provide disinfectant wipes that can be used to clean surfaces like phones etc.

    Switch to keyboards that can be disinfected and washed. Wise investment

    Automatic devices like towel dispensers improve restroom hygiene

    Hands free restroom door openers are the last link to keeping germs away

                                                  STAY HEALTHY

     As we go about our daily business we are unaware of the millions of germs we are in contact with.  Many of them are harmless, but on the other hand some of these organisms can cause illness.  It is impossible to avoid them all.  The best we can do is to wipe objects with a disinfectant wipe where it is possible, and to wash our hands after being in public, before touching someone, and before touching food. You don’t have to be a germaphobe to be safe.

     This is a ( incomplete) list of common germ carriers:    

     Purses, gym bags, diaper bags, credit and ATM cards, keys, cell phones, shopping carts, steering wheels, keyboards and a mouse, door knobs and light switches. The list could go on but these are the most frequent sources of germs. Travelling and staying in hospitals are a different story . DON’T FORGET TO WASH YOUR HANDS!                                  

Wash Your Hands